The Thank Y'all Show: Mother Falcon ft. Marmalakes, Hikes

Marking a little less than a decade since starting the band in high school, founder/cellist/composer/vocalist Nick Gregg points out, â€œWe were 14, 15, 16, 17 years old when this started. Now we are in our mid-twenties. Lives have changed and being a touring band just couldnâ€™t work anymore.â€�

Indeed, after three national headlining tours since 2013, several key members have decided to pursue other opportunities. Following in the footsteps of violinist/arranger Maurice Chammah, who moved to New York to pursue a career in journalism and now has a book deal, bassist Dusty Rhodes recently began his first year at Columbia Law School and producer/guitarist Matt Puckett, fresh off his Grammy win for producing the best childrenâ€™s album of 2015, departs for New York in January to pursue a songwriting career. Perhaps most important to the singular sound of the band, Mattâ€™s sibling, vocalist/guitarist/composer/co-frontperson Claire Puckett is moving to Portland to continue her burgeoning solo career and to work with She Shreds, the magazine dedicated to women guitarists & bassists. Over the past few years, Mother Falcon has seen a steady stream of departures, including sisters Laura and Rita Andrade, who left to pursue orchestra careers, but this latest round makes it impossible to continue pursuing the typical recording and touring cycles.

In light of these major changes, Mother Falcon decided to part ways with their longstanding team at Windish Artists and Rampant Arts. Manager John Riedie will stay on through â€œThe Thank Yâ€™all Show" in December. The group has also parted ways with Universal Music Classics, which released their third full length Good Luck Have Fun just over a year ago.

While no longer a â€œbandâ€� the remaining members plan to continue their arts education and scoring work. The primary vehicle for the collective going forward will be their summer arts education program, Mother Falcon Music Lab. They are also reviving Petra & the Wolf, their show with Lionheart Youth Theatre for one weekend in mid-December at the State Theatre. As a composing collective, the group is completing work on various projects and had begun writing a new album for Universal that may surface in some form in the future.

For now, the most important project is to celebrate years adventures together. Among them, two month-long residencies in NYC, during which 14 members lived together in Queens, and another similar time in LA, where they moved into adjacent condos in North Hollywood. Over the years collaborators included Amanda Palmer, Tony Trishka, Christopher Cross, Alejandro Escovedo, Gary Lucas (of Captain Beefheart), Graham Reynolds, Peter Stopschinski and many others.

Joining them for the show are two bands that have been closely connected to Mother Falcon since their inception. Members of Marmalakes and Hikes have been housemates, partners, friends and collaborators with members of Mother Falcon since they were all teens. In fact Claire Puckett was on original member of Hikes. Together on a bill, these three acts mark a particular time in the Austin music scene, around 2011, when a fresh new batch rose through the ranks including other close Mother Falcon associates Shakey Graves and Wild Child.